Finding Ursa
by boomerAANGsquad
Summary: When hearing stories about his father’s love for his grandmother, Prince Oroh, son of Firelord Zuko and Mai, sets out to find her.
1. Chapter 1

Finding Ursa

Finding Ursa

**I.**

"**One more story!** Please!" I heard my little sister's voice call out as I rounded the corner of the long hallway.

"If its okay with your mother, I don't see why not," my father's deep voice responded to her with a chuckle.

"Okay, fine," my mom responded, chuckling as well, "but nothing scary, okay, Zuko?"

I heard my little sister cheer and I rolled my eyes. By this time, I was outside of Zuni's room. Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to listen to my father's story as well. For a firelord, he told pretty good stories. I guess that's reasonable, considering his past. I peered into the room.

"Which story, Zuni?" my dad asked her.

Zuni's eyes glanced from our father to our mother, whose lap she was resting on. She looked back at my dad, who was eagerly awaiting her answer, and replied, "I want to hear one about _your_ mom."

I narrowed my eyes. Dad never talked about his own mother. I looked over at my mom, whose expression changed completely.

"I don't think it's a good idea, Zuni," she told my little sister, who immediately became disappointed.

After a moment of silence, my dad responded by saying, "It's fine. It's about time the kids learned about their grandmother." He paused for a moment then looked into the doorway. "I know you're there, Oroh," he said to me, "you should come in here too. This one's a good one."

I walked into the room and nodded my head. I sat down on the chair next to the bed that Zuni and my mom were laying on. I got comfortable when my father started his story.

"Since the day I met her, my mother and I were as close as mother and son could get. She loved me more than she loved your grandfather; and I loved her more than I loved anyone else.

"When I was about ten years old, I lived with my mom, my dad, and my little sister - Azula."

"I never knew you had a sister, Daddy!" Zuni inturrupted her. "You guys were just like me and Oroh!"

My mom chuckled. "You'd better hope that you and Oroh aren't like your father and his sister."

Zuni looked confused but my father continued his story.

"Anyway, Azula and I weren't what you would call "close" to one another. She had two best friends - your mother being one of them - and I had no friends. I would sit by the pond in our courtyard and just talk with my mom.

"Until one particular day when everything changed. We went to a meeting with my father to talk to my grandfather. After I showed him my bending and Azula showed him hers, we were asked to leave.

"Why, Daddy?" Zuni inturrupted again. "Why couldn't you stay?"

My mom shushed her. It was quite apparent that she wanted to hear the story, too.

"Of course, Azula, being the rebel that she was, pulled me behind one of the curtains in the meeting room so that we could hear what my father needed to talk to my grandfather about.

"Their conversation talked about the heir for the throne. You see, kids, your great uncle Iroh had just lost the war to conquer Ba Sing Se. Even worse, he lost his son. My father thought it was unfair because he had lost his only son, so the bloodline would end there. He begged my grandfather to let him take the throne instead.

"My grandfather was outraged by this proposal. He demanded that my father did not know the pain of losing a son. In other words, my grandfather was going to kill me."

"No!" Zuni cried. She bundled up closer to my mom.

"Maybe we should continue the story another night," my mom suggested, "It's late and Zuni needs some rest."

"No! Daddy! Continue! Please!" Zuni yelled.

"Okay, okay. My mom found out that my father was going to kill me and she was outraged. She plotted very treacherous things, to save my life. Because of her wrongdoing, she was banished.

"I've yet to go one day without wondering where she is." I noticed that my father was beginning to tear up as he was talking. "A few weeks after I took the throne from my sister - which is another story - I went to ask my father where she was. But he refused to answer me. He told me that I was a failure, a traitor, and a mutinist. He has not talked to me since."

"Daddy, that's so sad," Zuni hopped off the bed and gave him a big hug. She was crying as well.

My mom just looked at them. Then she turned to look at me.

"Nothing from you, Oroh?" she asked me.

"No," I replied.

I stood up and walked into my room. I put on my hooded cloak and went for a walk outside. I grabbed my lantern off the hook by the back door and lit it. I walked for about two blocks before I got to my clubhouse that I used to hang out in when I was little.

I climbed the metal ladder that one of my friends had bent a while back and entered the small metal shack that he had constructed. On the wall in front of me, there were all of our names carved into the metal sheet. The first on the list was my name. Then was my best friend, Koda. Then Kya. Then Dente. And last, scribbled at a different time, was Tera.

I put my back against one of the walls and closed my eyes. I began to think about my dad and his mother. I could not even imagine the pain of losing the only person that I loved.

After about an hour of alone time, I looked up at the moon. I figured it was about midnight so I walked back to the main part of the palace. I crept into my room and went to sleep.

That night, I had a lifechanging dream. In my dream, I was walking down the shaded pathway in the courtyard with my mom. Suddenly, she vanished. I spent the rest of my dream either crying or looking for her. Nobody knew where she went and nobody would help me find her.

I woke up that night sweating like crazy. Within a few minutes, my mom came in and felt my forehead.

"Oroh! Are you alright? You don't look so good," she told me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I responded. I hugged her, even though I was really sweaty. I was just so glad to have her right now.

The next morning, the cook served us some breakfast and I was very quiet. Which seemed to be okay, because Zuni talked double that morning, which allowed me to not say much.

By that afternoon, I was done thinking. I knew exactly what I had to do. I went to talk to my dad that night.

"Dad?" I asked as I opened the large doors to his throne room.

"Oroh?" he responded.

I walked farther in, "I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?"

I made a fist and bowed to him. "Yes. It was actually inspired from your story last night."

He rose his eyebrow, "You want me to kill you?"

"No," I laughed, "I would like your permission to go on a trip. I'd like to find your mom."


	2. Chapter 2

_(Author's Note: this chapter is a bit early due to the fact that I am going on vacation. Like I said before, normal Wednesday updates will start on August 13th. Enjoy the next chapter!)_

**II.**

"**Oroh, I've tried, **it's impossible. There's only one person who knows where she is, and I haven't talked to him in about twenty years"

"Who?"

"Your grandfather. But it's a lost cause. He won't talk to any of us."

"Please, dad. I'm bored here. I've learned all I can in my lessons and I really want to do this. I'll talk to him."

My dad looked into my eyes. I stared right back. Our identical eyes looked deeper into each other. He broke his gaze and looked down. He looked back up at me.

"If you can get information out of your grandfather, you have my permission to go," he told me. I smiled. He continued, "But Oroh,"

"Yeah?"

"Don't get your hopes up. Your grandfather is an impossible man to get information out of. He is cruel and hates our family."

I nodded, bowed, and walked out of his throne room. I went into my room and went to sleep. I would need rest for tomorrow's expedition.

When I woke up, I ate breakfast quickly while listening to Zuni chatter about her dream last night. I hid a few pastries in my pockets for my grandfather.

After breakfast, I went to leave when my mom grabbed me and combed out my hair. I pulled away from her. I liked my hair messy and loose, not like my father, who kept his hair in a tight bun. I ran out the door until I got to the edge of the palace. From there I walked over to the second to top prison in the firenation. It came right after the Boiling Rock, which had been locked due to cruelty to the prisoners.

I bowed to the guards and told them that I had permission to be in the prison. They let me pass and I roamed around, looking for the cell that my grandfather was in.

I finally got to the door that led to my grandfather's cell. I pushed it open. I looked at him. It took me a moment to recooperate. He looked exactly like my dad, only older. And he had no scar over his left eye.

"Gr-grandpa?" I started. He drove so much fear into me. His glare was deathly and his attitude towards me startled me.

"I brought you something," I stuttered, as I pulled the pastries out of my pockets. He raised his head and looked at the food I had in my hand. I inched closer to the cell he was in and I put it just out of arms' reach.

"I can't reach it," he told me.

"I know," I said bluntly, "I need something from you first."

He turned away from me, obviously outraged. He shouted at me, "You're just like your father. Always asking for something. Ungrateful child!"

"Please. Its just a little bit of information. A little information in exchange for a bunch of pastries. When was the last time you had one of these, Grandpa Ozai?"

"Don't call me that!" he snapped, "I do not want any relation to any of your family of traitors."

"Fine. I need some information that only you have and you want some pastries that you aren't going to get unless you take these right now."

"Agreed," he grunted.

"I need to know where my grandmother is."

"Disagreed," he grunted and turned all the way around.

"Okay, okay," I told him, letting up a bit. I sat down in the opposite corner and stared at him. "I'll wait until I get the information. But I have to warn you, if I get hungry (which is often due to the fact that I'm still growing) I will eat the pastries. Leaving less and less for you."

He grunted, but ignored me. I took one pastry out of my pocket and began to sniff it.

"Mmmm! This smells so good. I bet it tastes so much better." I spoke to myself aloud.

"Enough. I'll speak," he snapped, "but it doesn't matter. You'll never find her."

"Thank you," I added sarcastically.

"A few weeks after she left, and the anger went away, I realized that I still loved her. I would send people out to try and find her. The only information that I could get back was that she was on some Earth Kingdom island. Happy?"

"Yes, thank you," I replied. I made a fist and bowed to him. I tossed the pastries through one of the bars. "Goodbye Grandpa."

And I left before he could yell at me for calling him "Grandpa".

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"He spoke to me!" I yelled as I pushed open the doors to my dad's large throne room and ran up to his throne.

My dad cleared his throat and I rolled my eyes, but made a fist and bowed to him. I looked back up at him and noticed he had stood up and gotten closer to me. I smiled to him and he embraced me in a big hug. I hugged him back.

"You have my permission. Let's go talk to you mom," he told me.

We walked through the corridors and found my mom in the kitchen talking to the chef. She turned around to look at us. She must have noticed the seriousness on my father's face because her expression turned from happy to concerned.

"What's going on?" she asked us.

"Oroh, care to explain to your mother?" my dad asked me.

"Mom, I'd like your permission to take a journey away from the palace for a little while. It might be a few weeks, months, or even years. I'm not sure."

"Where are you going and with who?" she asked me. The normal Mom questions.

"I'm going to find my grandmother. By myself," I informed her.

"He has my permission to take Destiny on his journey," my dad added.

"Alone? I don't like that," my mom told me, concerned, "There are people out there, Oroh, who will hurt you because you are the Fire Nation prince."

"What if I got a few of my friends to join me? I'll go up to the Northern Water Tribe. I know there's a few things that Dad wants to give Avatar Aang. I'll deliver them and then take Kya with me. Please, Mom?"

She looked at me, then at my dad. She shrugged, "Why not?"

My dad and I gave her a big hug.

"But," she started, causing Dad and I to let go a bit, "you have to promise me that you will be safe, use your firebending when necessary, and say goodbye to your little sister when she gets home tomorrow night from Poa's house."

I smiled. "Deal."

We resumed our hug.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That night, I packed a small bag of clothing and necessary supplies. I grabbed a few medical supplies, some food, and a knife or two. I tied up my bag and went out to the royal stables.

I saw my dad stroking Destiny's neck. Next to him was my mom, holding his other hand and leaning on him. I could tell it would be hard to my mom to let go of me. But she knew it was the right thing to do.

I approached the three of them, walking slowly. I pet Destiny's large head and she rubbed up against my arm. I looked up at my parents.

"I got the saddle all ready for you, Oroh," my dad informed me. I nodded at him and gave them both a big hug.

The three of us walked outside to the courtyard, where Zuni was playing with a few of her friends. My dad and I put the finishing touches on the saddle and my belongings and he hugged me as my mom got Zuni. I gave her a big hug and she started crying.

I kissed my mom on the cheek and she started to cry as well. We had one final family hug. My mom kissed me and stuck some extra food in my pockets.

I hopped up onto Destiny's scaley, purple back and got ready to take off. I said a final goodbye to my family.

"Oroh," my mom called, "please write to me as soon as you get to the Northern Water Tribe!"

"I will," I assured her. "And dad?"

"Yes, son?"

"I will not fail."

I took off into the sky, headed towards the Northern Water Tribe.


	3. Chapter 3

**III.**

**I flew for about five days, **stopping here and there to give Destiny short breaks and camping out during the nights. When I finally arrived at the Northen Water Tribe, I put my large robe on and combed my hair out. I wanted to look nice before seeing the Avatar again. Plus, if anyone saw me, my messy hair would be a disgrace to the Fire Nation monarchs. I'd heard it from my mother so many times.

Destiny and I flew right up to the Avatar's home. I tied her up next to a river that she could drink from and went inside. I heard her roar at Appa, and then I heard Appa roar back. I could tell that they missed each other, too. I looked around. I immediately saw Avatar Aang. I walked over to him and bowed.

"Prince Oroh? What brings you here?" he asked me as he bowed back. His eyes brightened and his smile widened.

"I'm on a special mission and, with your permission, I'd like to take Kya along," I responded bluntly.

He looked at me for a moment. He asked, "Where is your father?"

"Back at the palace. These letters are from him," I said, passing him the letters from my dad, "This journey, I plan to take alone."

"Alone with Kya?"

"Yeah," I agreed, realizing my mistake, "not alone then."

"Would you like to spend a few days here first? When was the last time you spent a week with us?"

"Yes, thank you. But I can only stay a few days. Then, I must leave and carry on my journey."

"Glad to have you," he told me, pulling me into an large embrace. Our fathers have been best friends for a very long time. He led me into the small house and carried in my bag. He took me to the room next to Kya's. "Here's where you'll be staying, Oroh."

"Thank you," I said, "Excuse me, Avatar Aang, but where is Kya or Katara?"

"They're out at the market. They should be home very soon," he informed me, "Why don't you get situated until they return."

"Thank you." I put my bag on the bed and took off my heavy robe. I took out a scroll and started a letter to my mother.

_My Family,_

_I have arrived safely in the Northern Water Tribe. Avatar Aang says hello and that he misses you, Dad. I have told him all about my plan and journey. I'll ask Kya about it when she gets home. I miss you all._

_Love,_

_Prince Oroh_

I rolled it up and put it on a messenger hawk. It should reach them in a few days. I layed down on the bed and rested my head for a while.

About ten minutes later, I heard the front door swing open and Kya's friendly voice start talking. I hopped off the bed and walked over to the front door. I didn't see Kya, but I did see a huge stack of baskets with legs.

"Would you like some help?" I asked, taking a few of the baskets off her hands. Her gray eyes brightened with her smile when she saw me.

We put the baskets on the table and she gave me a big hug. I hugged her back. She had definitely grown since the last time I'd seen her. I did too, which kept me still about a foot taller. Her black hair had gotten longer and she seemed thinner. There was still no arrow on her forehead, so she must not have mastered airbending yet.

"How'd you get here?" she asked me, still hugging.

I broke off the hug. I told her, "I flew on Destiny."

"By yourself?" she asked me, tilting her head slightly. She had the greatest smile. I also noticed that she was done with that "awkward phase" that she had been going through the last time I had seen her. Her teeth had all grown in and her skin had cleared up a bit.

"Yeah. Which is actually why I'm here," I started. I turned to Katara and Avatar Aang, "May I please speak to Kya alone in her room?"

Kya seemed confused, but she turned to her parents as well. Katara nodded and I followed Kya to her room. She sat down on her bed and leaned up against the wall. I sat on the chair near the bed.

I looked around the room. It was so different from the last time I'd seen it. The last time I had been here was at least two years ago. Usually, everyone comes to my house, for it is the biggest and in the middle of everyone else's houses. I had come here during the summer to help them move into their new house. Then, it wasn't furnished at all. Now it had skins dyed blue to cover the walls. There were drawings everywhere that Kya must have drawn and a small desk that she must do her schoolwork on. There were a few pictures of the two of us that had been painted during that summer. There were a few pictures of us with Koda and Dente, some with just Koda, and two with her and Tera. There was also a painting of her with her parents. She had some small gifts that I had bought her when I was little and we visited. My parents had insisted that I buy her some firenation things as a gift. They told me it was polite and kind. She had a small firenation doll that stood on her dresser and a few firenation robes that looked pretty worn laying on a chair. I couldn't find the necklace I had bought her when I was only ten.

"So…?" she asked me.

I realized that I had zoned out for at least five minutes looking around the room. I looked back at her.

"I'm taking a journey around the Earth Kingdom, and I would like you to accompany me," I told her, leaving out the key details that may change her opinion of coming.

"Why?"

I sighed. I figured leaving out details would be out of the picture. "I'm on a very special mission sent by myself. I'm going to find my grandmother."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"And you want _me_ to come?" she asked, shocked by it for some reason.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because."

She shrugged. "Okay."

"So you'll come?" I asked. I hoped that she couldn't see how excited I got.

"Sure. But I have to ask my parents first," she said as she smiled at me and stood up.

I stood up as well. I followed her out of the room. She went to go help Katara put some of the food away. I asked Katara where Avatar Aang went. She told me that he was outside clearing off the pathway to the house.

I walked outside, then remembered that I had taken my warmer robe off. I went back into the house and put it back on. I ran back out while Kya laughed at me.

I found Avatar Aang moving the snow off the pathway and forming it into a fence around the house. When he was left with an extra pile of snow, I melted it and he bent the water into the canal.

"Good teamwork," Avatar Aang chuckled.

"I asked Kya about it. She says that she'd like to come along if it's alright with you," I was straight to the point.

"She has my permission. When I was your age I was roaming the world all the time. Its about time Kya sees the world."

I was so relieved by his answer. I thanked him, "Thank you, Avatar Aang. Thank you." I bowed to him and went back into the house.

When I went back in, Katara and Kya were done putting the food away and Katara was cooking and Kya was setting the table. I chuckled as she tossed the forks in the air and airbended them to their proper spots. I grabbed the cloths and set them at each seat.

During dinner, I talked nearly non-stop about what was going on in the Fire Nation. Katara gave her permission after much arguing, but said that we had to wait until the day after tomorrow. When dinner was over, I cleared off the table and went with Kya into her room so that we could catch up a little more.

"So how's your girlfriend, Oroh?" she asked me.

"Gin Shi? We broke up about a half a year ago," I answered quietly.

"Oh."

"Yeah. How's Zuni?"

"She's good. She's grown so much."

"That's good."

"Maybe after the trip, I'll take you there. She misses you a lot."

"That'd be nice."

After about ten minutes of catching up, we decided to go to sleep. I said goodnight to her and went into my room. I laid down and went to sleep.

The next morning, I ate breakfast with Kya, Katara, and Avatar Aang. Afterwards, Avatar Aang and I went to the Water Tribe palace to talk with the Water Tribe Chief. He had seen the dragon and requested my presence.

We talked until dusk about international happenings. We also chatted about my journey. He gave me some advice and told me that he had heard rumors of an Earth Kingdom island where the people still held grudges against the Fire Nation. He gave me some things to give to my father when I returned home. When I went home that night, I sat with Kya and talked with her again. We prepared ourselves for our jouney tomorrow.

The next morning, Katara packed us some extra food and we said our goodbyes to Avatar Aang and Katara.

"Be safe, Kya," Katara whispered as we got onto the dragon. She had tears in her eyes. Kya jumped off and gave her parents a big hug.

"I will, Mom," Kya whispered back.

"Don't do anything stupid," Aang added, chuckling slightly.

Kya nodded. She added, "I love you."

"I love you too," Katara told her.

"Love you," Aang said, kissing her cheek.

She let go and hopped on Destiny's back. She waved as the dragon took off. When we couldn't see them anymore, she joined me at the front. I noticed the tears in her eyes. I put my arm around her and used my thumb from my other hand to wipe away her tears. She leaned her head on my shoulder.

"I've never left home without them," she whispered to me.

"We'll be back soon, don't worry. We'll find her in no time."


	4. Chapter 4

**IV.**

**I listened to Kya's steady breathing **as I flew that night. I had allowed her to go to sleep while I flew since she was my guest and she was here on my behalf. After about two hours of flying, Destiny landed in a forest in the Fire Nation. I put a blanket over Kya, since I knew it would get cold, and took my sleeping bag and lied down on Destiny's long, scaly neck.

When I woke up the next morning, Kya was already awake. I didn't see her, but I heard her singing from the stream. She was probably bathing, but I didn't go over to check. If she was, I didn't really want to go over there.

I took out some of the bread that my mother had given me. I cut a few slices with my knife and toasted it on an open fire. As I was feeding a slice to Destiny, Kya came back from whatever she was doing.

Turns out, I was right. It was a bath, because her hair was really wet. I looked at her neck. On it was the Fire Nation necklace I had gotten her so long ago.

"Good morning, Oroh," she greeted me. She was wearing one of her lighter robes and had her hair down. It was so long now that it went below her waist.

"Good morning. Sleep well last night?" I asked.

She sat down on a rock and started brushing her hair. She smiled at me and responded, "Yeah. What about you?"

"Yeah," I smiled back. I held out a piece of bread. "Would you like a piece, Kya?"

"Yes please." She finished combing through her hair and held out her hand. I tossed it over there and she caught it.

When she finished eating, we spent about ten minutes packing up and then we were in the air again. She sat up next to me in the front and we talked the whole time. She told me all about her friends and her ex-boyfriend and everything that had gone on since I had last seen her. I did a bit more listening than actually talking, but it was fine, I was used to Zuni doing the same thing.

"Where we going?" she asked me. I rolled out the map I had in my bag. I pointed to a small island in the middle of the ocean we were flying over.

"Whale Tail Island," I told her.

"Why?"

"My grandfather said that it was rumored that she was on an Earth Kingdom island. This is the first one we're going to check out," I informed her.

"Oh," she smiled, "How soon do you think until we get there?"

"I dunno."

A week later, I could tell she was bored. I was too. We stopped each night and made camp. Then we would go to bed. And when we woke, we would get back on Destiny and fly off again.

She usually sat up front with me. One day when it was exceptionally quiet she went to the back of Destiny's saddle. I kept my eyes focused on the route ahead of me.

I called back to her, "It shouldn't be too long now, Kya!"

After five minutes, I didn't hear a response. I shouted again, "Kya?"

I turned around to see that Kya had vanished. I dropped Destiny's reins and stood up. "KYA!?" I had lost her. I started freaking out. I looked over the side of Destiny. Maybe she had fallen off. I didn't see her anywhere in the water.

Suddenly, from behind my back, I heard a giggle. I stood back up and turned around. There she was, flying in loop-de-loops on her glider.

"What was that for?" I asked, out of breath and seeming a bit harsher than I had meant to.

"I got bored," she responded, laughing slightly, "I can't believe you still fall for that. I've done that to you since I was like seven."

Then she flew off in circles. She landed back on Destiny about a half hour later. She folded up her glider and sat back down next to me. She gave me a big hug; she could probably notice how I was still peeved at her "prank".

"Aww, where's your sense of humor, Oroh?" she giggled, putting her skinny arm around me.

I rolled my eyes. "I guess I left it in the Fire Nation."

She giggled again, "There it is! I knew you brought it!"

"I see the island!" I exclaimed.

Kya's expression changed. She looked at me blankly, "You're killing it."

"I'm not kidding!" I pointed straight ahead. There was a large island in the shape of a whale.

"Finally!" she exclaimed.

We landed in one of the forests on the island. I stroked Destiny's long neck and told her that we'd be back in a little while. It was about midday, so it was sweltering on this island. Kya took off her larger robes and was wearing just a sleeveless white shirt and a white skort. I took my robe off as well and wore just long shorts. She carried her staff with her.

We walked into the village. When we reached the center of the small town, we saw some of the army men sitting around a small table. When we passed them, they seemed to whisper amongst themselves and pointed at me.

Irritated, I walked over to them. I kindly asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," one of them grunted. He was fairly obese. "You can get out of here, Fire Prince."

Kya walked up to where I was standing. She seemed as confused as I was. She challenged, "What?"

"Yeah," another one spoke up. He was much thinner and looked like he hadn't shaved in quite a long time. "Minko is right. We don't want none o' your kind here."

"What are you talking about?" I asked them. What was wrong with them?

"Listen, kid," Minko pushed at me, "There are no Fire Nation scum allowed here, so I recommend you get yourself out o' here before we have to remove you."

I just looked at him. Kya could probably tell how angered I had become; she spoke for me, "Oroh is the sweetest guy I've ever met. What's your problem?"

A different one pointed at a burnt statue of some person. He was scary looking and very tall. He growled, "That's our problem. You guys have five seconds to get out of here, or we'll attack."

"Then attack," I shouted at him, very aggitated, "we can take you!"

"Oroh," Kya started, pulling me back a little, but it was too late. I had fire coming out of my hands and the tall one had stood up to face me. I was up to his shoulders, but I wasn't intimidated. The others stood up around him. They were five of them and two of us. I saw Kya out of the corner of my eye. She looked very nervous.

Minko had the first attack. He sent a big rock flying towards me. I wasn't expecting it and it thrust me backwards. When I moved it off of me, I saw Kya had joined the fight. She had moved Minko at least twenty feet away with her airbending. I was amazed. That must have been hard. Minko probably weighed about three hundred pounds.

I realized that I had been sitting and watching when I was hit with another rock, sent by the skinny guy. With fire in my hands, I came at him at full speed. I sent a huge blast of fire at him. Kya was still handling Minko, which left four for me. While the skinny one was down, I sent some fire towards the tall one. It slithered out of my hand like a snake. But it missed, for I was knocked off my feet by one of the other Earthbenders. Kya quickly covered for me by sending a tornado towards two of their men.

"Oroh?" she yelled to me.

"Yeah?" I asked, mid-battle.

"I - I don't think we can take them," she yelled disappointedly.

"Me either," I replied solemnly.

As I was saying that, Kya sunk into the ground. It was me against five of them. But for some reason, that didn't bother me. I was only concerned about one thing: Kya. Suddenly, my rage got the better of me. I was sending fire everywhere. One of the five men fled. It was great, but he was wimpy anyway. He wasn't really impacting the fight either way.

I was doing great until Minko sent some rocks at my hands and feet, sending my flying backwards. I got stuck to the ground. I struggled to get free. I looked up and saw Minko and three others.

Minko was the one who spoke, "If you leave now, we'll return your friend perfectly safe. We didn't want to hurt her. Just you."

"Fine," I hissed at him. He released me and I stood up. I could have attacked him when he was off-guard, but I didn't. I couldn't take all four of them. He took Kya out of the ground and she was coughing and tearing. I ran over to where she was. I hugged her tighter than ever.

"Are you alright?" I asked, still holding her close to myself.

"Yeah. Well, better now," she looked up at me. In the darkest of situations, she somehow managed to make a joke. I helped her stand up, she was still in shock, slightly. I realized that she wasn't going to be walking quickly enough to avoid a fight, so I picked her up. Surprisingly, she weighed almost nothing.

I walked her back to the forest where we found Destiny fighting off some forest animals. I put Kya down for a moment, sent some fire to scare off the animals, picked Kya back up, and put her on the saddle. I hopped on Destiny's back and took off.

I sat in the back with Kya who was now completely back to normal now. She looked up at me.

"I forgot to ask," she whispered, "are you okay, Oroh?"

"Yeah. A few scrapes, but I'm fine."

"What now? We couldn't even take on five Earthbenders. We don't have a chance if we have to face more people. Plus, you didn't get a chance to look for your grandmother at all."

I looked away. I thought about this for a moment. Only one idea came to my mind. I looked back at her.

"Koda."


	5. Chapter 5

**V.**

**We landed at the Southern Water Tribe **about a day and a half later. When we landed, Kya was immediately hugged by her cousin, Tera, who seemed to have run out of nowhere. When Tera finished hugging Kya, she threw her arms around me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kya giggling.

Tera led us inside her icy house. Inside, Sokka was holding his youngest child, Mondi. He looked up at us.

"Kya? Oroh?" he asked us.

Kya ran up to him and gave him a big hug. She exclaimed, "Uncle Sokka!"

He hugged her with one arm, the other was holding Mondi. I heard Suki call from the other room. She walked out, holding hands with Canta and Moki. She looked just as confused as Sokka had been.

Kya kissed Mondi's head. She then walked over to her aunt and kissed Canta and Moki as well. She hugged her aunt and then went back over to stand by me and Tera.

"What brings you two here?" Suki asked us.

"We're on a mission," I answered vaguely.

"Alone?" Suki questioned.

"Yeah," I answered, shrugging.

"Awesome!" Sokka cheered. It got quiet. We all looked over at him. Suki looked a bit uncomfortable. I tried to hold in my laughter.

"Where's Koda?" I asked.

"He's at his classes," Suki told me.

"Classes?"

"Yeah. He teaches the young waterbenders in the village."

Kya and I started laughing. We knew Koda way too well to think that he could be teaching other children to waterbend. Koda wasn't exactly what you would consider good enough to teach someone else.

"Thanks," I managed. Kya, Tera, and I left the house. Tera led us to where Koda was giving his lessons.

We hid behind a block of ice and watched Koda show a little boy a waterbending move using ice. I created some steam and Kya sent it over there, causing the ice to melt. The three of us held in our laughter as we continued this. Koda got so frustrated. I finally just sent a weak blast of fire over to his ice. He turned around and started laughing with us.

I hugged my best friend. It had been too long since I'd last seen him. He had grown. Where he used to be a few inches shorter than me, he was now at least a half a foot taller than me.

"How you been, man?" he asked me.

"Eh, can't complain. What about you?"

"It's really boring here. I'm either caring for the twins or teaching this class."

"You…teaching?" Kya asked between laughter.

"Yes," Koda said, obviously annoyed.

We heard Suki calling us for dinner. We all went back to the house. For dinner, we had some fish that Koda had caught. Kya seemed hesitant to eat it, but she did anyway.

After dinner, Koda, Kya, Tera, and I went outside for a snowball fight. Koda promised not to use his waterbending even though we all knew it wouldn't matter. Koda was the strongest of all of us.

It was an intense snowball fight. It was lit by the moonlight, which made it even more interesting.

That night, Kya roomed with Tera and Moki, and I roomed with Koda. We talked about everything under the sun, but mostly girls. Typical Koda. Apparently, he had just been dumped by his girlfriend. He kept telling me how he needed to get out of here for a little while.

"Then do I have the perfect proposition for you?" I asked him rhetorically.

"What?" he was very confused.

I smiled at him, "Join me and Kya. We need some help."

He thought about it for a minute or two. Then he turned to me and let me know, "I'm in."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At breakfast the next morning, Koda asked his parents if he could come along as soon as they came into the room.

"Dad, can I go with Oroh and Kya?" he spit out.

"Sure," Sokka replied. He smiled at us until Suki gave him a look. He changed his expression. He blankly continued, "Where are you going? When will you be back? Blah, blah, blah."

Suki was right at him, "Sokka! What's the matter with you? This is serious. Our son just asked us if he could leave and you didn't even bother to ask where he's going." She turned to face me. "Its not that I don't trust you, Oroh, its just that it's a dangerous world out there. And I wouldn't want - "

"Suki, we traveled the world when we were Koda's age," Sokka inturrupted.

"Yes, but we were highly skilled warriors. Koda's last lesson was three years ago."

"But, Sweetie, we had the Fire Nation attacking us all the time. Unless there's a riot, nobody will attack Koda in the Fire Nation while he's with Oroh."

Suki sat down. She knew that she was defeated. "Fine. You can go."

"Umm, Suki," I started, "When I go to drop Kya back off at her house, Koda can get some lessons from a master. That way he'll improve a bit."

"Sounds like a great idea. See, Suki? He gets lessons too!" Sokka said, happy that someone was agreeing with him.

"I already said that it was okay!" Suki yelled. Mondi started crying in the other room and she got up to go see what was wrong.

It was quiet for a minute. Koda and Sokka looked eagerly amused. I looked at Kya, who had remained quiet the whole time.

"Can I go?" came Tera's voice. We all looked over at her. Sokka shook his head slowly and Koda and Kya sat motionless.

"Tera, you're younger than we are, and we can't be watching you the whole time. It could get dangerous."

"I can help myself!" she shouted at me, "And I'm only a year younger than Kya!"

"Yes," Kya started, "but I'm a highly skilled airbender."

"I know exactly what this is!" Tera screamed as she stood up to leave the table. "This is because I'm not a bender, isn't it? Well, you know what? I'm the best warrior in the South Pole!" She stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Suki came out of her room when she heard all the commotion. She looked around before asking us, "What was that?"

"Tera wanted to come along, but we said that she couldn't because she's too young and defenseless," Koda answered.

"Koda!" Suki yelled, "Your sister is a great fighter! Just because she doesn't have bending abilities doesn't mean she can't fight. Wait a few minutes and then I want you to go in there and apologize."

"Mom!"

"Koda."

"Fine."

Koda went in a few minutes later, but he didn't get past the doorway when Tera pulled out her sword on him.

"Does this look defenseless to you?!" she shouted.

Koda, Kya, Tera, and I were outside doing chores for Sokka and Suki all day. Tera completely ignored us and went off on her own. Koda left to go teach his last lesson before he left with us. It was just Kya and I.

"Now what?" Kya asked me. She was obviously bored.

"Why don't you go talk to Tera?"

"Yeah. Come with me?"

"No. You guys should talk. A girl to girl talk would be awkward with me there."

She giggled. She hugged me and ran off to go find Tera.

Now alone, I went over to the old abandoned ship. I climbed various ladders and walked through some rooms into our old playhouse. We hadn't come down here in a very long time. I saw a sign on the outside of the room that said, "_BOYS ONLY. NO GIRLS ALLOWED_" in big letters that Koda had made when we were about six. Written smaller underneath was my handwriting "_Except for Kya_".

I turned around to the table in the corner. I picked up a feather with ink and wrote down "_or Tera_". I put the ink back down. As I spun around, my elbow knocked into the container or ink. It spilled all over the table. I quickly dried it up with some towels. When I was drying up the bottom, I noticed something. I pulled it out from behind the table.

It was Chimcha, Tera's stuffed penguinbear. She had lost this the last time I had visited the Southern Water Tribe. She was six at the time and I remember her hysterical crying. I put it in the pocket of my robe and left our clubhouse.

When I returned to the center of the village, I saw that Tera and Kya were still talking. Koda had finished his lesson and we went into his house. I placed Chimcha on Tera's pillow. Koda and I sat down at the table and planned out our journey on a map. I pointed to Whale Tail Island.

"Kya and I just came from there. We had to leave before we could look for her. I'd like to go back," I told him.

"Why did you leave in the first place?" he asked.

"We kinda got attacked," I whispered.

"Attacked," he repeated, "is that why you came to get me? I doubt that I'll make enough impact to help you with your victory."

"Are you saying that we should bring Tera?"

"No. If she got hurt, I'd have to kill you."

"Hey. If she got hurt, I'd probably kill _myself_. I'd save you the guilt. Then who are you saying that we bring?"

"Dente."

"Dente," I repeated.

"Dente," we said together.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It took us four days to get to the small Earth Kingdom town of Gaol. We had decided not to bring Kya along with us. She was alright with it. She wanted to spend some time with Tera, her aunt and uncle, and her little cousins. And I seriously needed to spend some guy-time with Koda.

When Destiny landed inside the gates of Dente's house, guards ran from every direction to arrest us. When they saw it was us, we all chuckled a little bit. We were here less than a year ago, when we had "befriended" all the guards so they would let us sneak out to parties. We call it "befriending", but most people would call it "tying someone up and threatening them to either stay quiet, or never speak again". After a while, it became a game. They would pretend to not notice when we snuck out at night. One night, we even snuck up on them, tied them up, and brought them with us. Somehow, these guards hadn't been fired. It was quite shocking. Even though Toph can't see, I think the Duke is even more blind than she is about some things.

They took us inside the building. We looked around. We pushed open the door to Dente's room and he was in there, looking at himself in the mirror.

"Don't worry, Den, I think you look amazing," I teased him. He looked up at us and started blushing.

"That makes one of us, eh Oroh?"

I walked over to him and pulled him into a big man-hug. Koda joined us.

The next morning, Dente was flying with us on Destiny while we headed to the Southern Water Tribe.

Another four days later, we were back at the icy South Pole. Kya and Tera hugged all three of us.

We spent that night catching up with each other. We talked about everything. We sat around a small fire and told stories and played games. It reminded me how much I missed them.

In the morning, it was time to go. We all ate breakfast and packed up. I was tying some things onto Destiny's saddle when Dente and Tera walked up to me.

"Oroh? We need to talk," Dente announced. His arms were crossed at his chest. Tera was exactly the same way.

"Yeah?"

"Tera is coming with us."

I turned to face them. I laughed a bit while I said, "That's not much of a talk."

They just stared at me.

"Tera can't come. She's too young. Plus, I can't let her get hurt."

"Tera and I are the same age, Oroh."

"It's different. You're a master earthbender."

"And she's a master swordswoman."

"Dente, I can't have her get hurt and it be my fault."

"Then I will make it my duty to make sure that nobody hurts her."

"I can see I'm not going to win. Tera, you can come."

They celebrated. Tera hugged me and then hugged Dente even tighter. I was still afraid that I had made the wrong choice, but I would allow her to come. Dente did have a point, though. They were the same age. I just felt so much more protective over Tera than Dente. I guess in the back of my mind, I knew that Dente would survive. He was quite the warrior.

We all got on Destiny's back. I showed everyone the map and pointed to Whale Tail Island. "Here's where we're going, guys. There's some guys there that need to be taught a lesson."

I looked around at all my friends.

"And I know the perfect group of kids to teach it to them."


	6. Chapter 6

(a/n: due to my school starting back up and my lack of time to write, updates will be moved to Sunday starting on September 14th! Sorry to make you wait!)

**VI.**

**I had Destiny land **in the same place as she had before. We walked into the center of the town. I saw Minko and the others (minus the one that had run about a week earlier) sitting at the same table that they had been at before. I walked back over to them, leaving Kya, Koda, Tera, and Dente by themselves.

"You again?" Minko asked. "I thought we told you to never come back again!"

"Yeah, well, it turns out that I'm not really a great listener," I told them, "And you'd better hope that you are." My voice got stronger and I began to threaten them. "Because I am going to look around the island and you are not going to stop me."

"Says who?" the skinny one asked.

"Says me," Kya chimed in, perfectly on cue.

"Ha! We took care o' you last time, Princess."

"Not this time you won't," she told them. Two of them stood up and walked over to Kya.

"We'll take care of the girl, Chung Lee," one of them said to the skinny one. They got closer to Kya with smiles broadening on their faces. They were at least two and a half feet taller than Kya. She looked so small compared to them.

"No you won't," I hissed. I bent fire out of my feet, knocking two of them over. I stood over them. "You don't _ever_ touch her. You hear me?"

I felt the heat coming out of my ears. I wanted to kill the two men for even going near Kya. I didn't, however, because I was shot twelve feet back by a rock sent by Minko or Chung Lee. I wasn't sure which one. I was stopped by my feet getting stuck in the earth and the rock falling to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Dente had joined the fight. He nodded at me, his hand still facing the spot where the rock had fallen.

And so had Koda. He created a huge wave using the trough water behind the table. He drenched the four men. Tera took out her sword and ran for Chung Lee. Dente slid in next to her. He was sticking to his word.

"Jim Jung, you get the little boy and girl! Mantto, you get the waterbender! Chung Lee can handle the airbending girl. The Fire Prince is mine," snarled Minko.

Jim Jung jumped and slid on the earth to the spot where Tera and Dente were. He started to split the ground where they were standing. Dente sealed it back up and sent three rock pillars that nailed Jim Jung in the chest. Tera kicked him in the leg and he fell over.

Koda froze Mantto into a block of ice. He sent the ice upward and shot Mantto into the air. Manto landed softly in the ground and shot a rain of boulders in the air. I shot some fire and disintegrated one of the rocks before it hit Koda over the head.

Minko was attacking much stronger than he had the other day. He was sending me flying everywhere. He shot rocks at me that I either dodged or burnt. Every fire I sent at him was either dodged, or blocked with a rock.

Kya wasn't having as much trouble. She avoided all the rocks that were being sent at her by Chung Lee. She used her staff to send him into the air. She was incredible. When he sent rocks at her, she sent them back at him in a tornado.

Minko sent me into the ground. I couldn't get out. I screamed. I saw Kya looking back at me with tears in her eyes and a rock about to hit her. I tried to scream, "No!" but I was all the way under. It was dark and cold and went. There was minimal oxygen back there. I started to tear up a bit when I was shot back out. I saw Dente. I nodded at him. He was obviously the one who let me up.

I looked around. Mantto was still frozen, Jim Jung was stuck to a wall, Chung Lee was being attacked by Koda and Dente, and Tera was helping an unconcious Kya to her feet.

I started to feel a bit dizzy. I ran over to her and helped her up to her feet. She was bleeding pretty badly and was completely unconcious. It was my fault. I had gone down, allowing her to get hit.

"Tera, go help Koda and Dente! I'll take Kya somewhere safer," I commanded. Tera nodded and ran over to go fight Chung Lee. I realized something: Minko had vanished.

I scooped Kya up in my arms and held her tightly to my chest. I ran with her in my arms back to where Destiny was waiting in the forest. When I got there, Minko was standing there waiting.

"I knew you'd join me sooner or later," he whispered, smirking.

The forest was completely empty and silent. I pushed past him and put Kya on Destiny's saddle. I took out my medical supplies and put herbs over her cuts and cleaned them as fast as I could.

"Aren't you going to fight me?" Minko asked.

"No," I replied quietly, "You're not even worth the fight."

I fell to the ground when it shook from beneath me. I hopped back up and faced him. I was very angry at this point. I hissed, "Is that what you want?"

He smiled at me.

"You're weak. You're pathetic. You can't hurt me," he growled.

"Yes. I can."

I felt the anger grow inside of me. Before I knew it, a bolt of lightning shot out of my fingertips and hit him in the center of his large stomach. He fell to the ground, screaming and clutching his stomach.

I looked over him. He was still alive. The lightning had just shocked him and temporarily paralyzed him. He would have a huge scar to remind him of me for his whole life.

"Who's pathetic now?" I growled at him.

I hopped on Destiny's back and looked at Kya. She was still completely out. I finished wiping the blood off her shoulders. I hugged her close to me.

Destiny flew into the center of the town. She set Chung Lee on fire and the rest of the group hopped on.

Koda looked over at me, he must have noticed the tears in my eyes. He talked to me softly, "How's Kya doing?"

"I'm not sure."

"Let me look at her," he suggested. I turned around and checked on Dente. He was not always the most reliable pilot.

I looked back at Koda. His hands were glowing and he was touching Kya's wounds. I nodded to him, I knew he'd do a good job.

"I'm taking the reigns, Dente. Thanks," I said, taking Destiny's reigns back from Dente. He and Tera moved to the back of the saddle. I sat alone.

That night, Destiny landed at the Southern Air Temple. We camped out there for the night. While the others ate dinner, I went for a walk by myself. I leaned on the balcony and looked out at the stars. I still didn't get the chance to look for my grandmother on Whale Tail Island. I guess she wouldn't be there, since they have a very strict no-Fire Nation rule. I closed my eyes for a moment.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I turned to look who it was. I looked into familiar gray eyes. I turned to face Kya.

"Thank you," she whispered.

I pulled her into my arms tightly. She wrapped her arms around my neck. She felt so warm.

"My pleasure," I whispered back.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We arrived at Kyoshi Island around midday the next day. Kya still needed time to heal, Tera had some scrapes, and Koda pulled a leg muscle, so I figured that Kyoshi Island would be a great place to rest for a few days. I allotted four days to the group. If we stayed any longer, we'd never find Ursa.

We landed on the beaches and walked Destiny into their main village. The villagers seemed very pleased to see us, and took Destiny to their stables. I took Kya to their medical building so that she could have a real doctor look at her.

As we walked through the halls there weren't too many people there. There were a few children that were sick, a man who claimed he was attacked by the Unagi, and an old man who had foam coming out of his mouth.

"Oroh, I'm fine," Kya moaned, "I don't need a doctor."

"Let's just be sure," I replied blankly.

Koda and Tera had many friends in Kyoshi Island that offered to give us space in their homes. We ended up staying with Ming and Undi, two Kyoshi Warriors. The girls stayed with Undi and the guys stayed with Ming.

The doctor came in to look at Kya. He used some herbs to prevent an infection and ran some tests. It was hard for me to watch. It seemed like it really hurt Kya. She would wince in pain and yelp. When he finished up, he turned to me to give me the report.

"No infection," he told me, "and the cuts should heal up in a few days. Your friend will be just fine."

"Thank you," I said. I shook his hand and he left the room. Kya and I left the building. We found Dente, Koda, and Tera outside playing bendball. When they saw us approach, they stopped.

"How is she?" Tera asked me.

"I'm fine," Kya said before I could say anything.

"That's good," said Koda.

We ate lunch together in the middle of the courtyard. After lunch, we went to our rooms to settle in a bit. Our room was perfect. It had a bunkbed and a single bed. It was not the most spacious room, but it would work for a few days. I took the single, Dente took the top bunk, and Koda took the bottom bunk. We decided to call it a night. We were all incredibly tired.

The next morning, I woke up first. I got into my robes and went outside. I went down to the market to get breakfast for the other guys. When I got there, I saw Kya and Tera laughing and eating melon.

"Good morning, girls," I greeted them.

"Morning, Oroh," Kaya sang.

"Morning. Where's my lazy brother?" Tera asked.

I chuckled, "Where do you think he is?"

"Well," Tera started, "there are two common answers when that question is asked about Koda. Those being: sleeping or with a girl."

"The first one," I said between laughter, "unless you count Dente. Then it's both."

We all laughed. I paid for some fruits for the sleepers and said goodbye to the girls. I opened up the door to our bedroom and saw that Koda and Dente were awake. The both looked up at me.

"Where you been?" Koda asked.

"At the market with Kya and Tera. I brought you breakfast."

I tossed them each a piece of fruit.

It was quiet as we all ate our breakfast.

"When are you going to tell her?" Koda asked me.

"Tell who?"

"Kya."

"Tell her what?"

Koda rolled his eyes at me. He seemed a bit frustrated, like I was messing with him on purpose. He replied, "That you're in love with her."

"What? I'm not in love with Kya."

"Yeah you are," chimed in Dente, who had been pretty quiet the rest of the morning.

"Yeah? What makes you say that?" I asked defensively.

"Whenever you look at her, say her name, touch her, think about her, or hear someone mention her you get this look in your eyes, Oroh," Dente started, "and we all noticed. And when she got hurt yesterday, you freaked out. If I got hurt, you'd probably laugh."

I remained quiet.

"Oroh," Koda continued for Dente, "imagine Dente kissing Kya. How's that make you feel."

"Repulsed. Poor Kya," I smirked at Dente, "Dente uses way too much tongue."

"Oroh."

"Okay, fine. I'm kinda angry at Dente, I feel like I want to jump off the balcony of the Southern Air Temple, but I'm glad she's with someone who makes her happy.

Koda and Dente exchanged looks.

"_Damn_, Oroh. We were wrong," Dente said.

"You're _madly_ in love with Kya," Koda finished for him.

I laid back down with my head on my pillow. Did I love Kya like that? I thought about when I had first seen her on this trip. How she hugged me so closely, but it felt like every other time she'd ever held me tight. I thought about how I felt when Tera hugged me. Kya was warm and close and Tera felt the same as when Dente hugged me. I thought of that feeling I had when Kya was hurt. Maybe I did love her. Then I realized something. Ever since we were little, I'd always picked out her gifts myself and argued with Koda to let her in our clubs. She was the first one I thought of when my mom said I needed someone to travel with.

I did love her. I _always_ had.


	7. Chapter 7

**VII**

**Our week at Kyoshi Island** was coming to an end, and I had no idea where we were giong next. While Koda, Tera, and Dente were packing up Destiny, Kya and I went to the market to buy some more supplies and food. I handed her some copper pieces and we split up. I went to get medical supplies and she went to get some fruit and vegetables. I looked over at her. Her long hair was parted perfectly in the middle. The sun seemed to be hitting her perfectly as it was rising.

"Can I help you?" asked a large man, irritated. I realized I had been staring at Kya for at least a minute and a half. I blushed and turned to face the man.

"Yes please. Which herbs can be used for healing cuts?" I asked.

He handed me a bundle of green leaves. "These will work wonders."

"Thank you."

I paid him and went to leave. As I was going by I heard two people talking near me.

"You're Fire Nation?" a woman asked a man. "There are many islands here where it's not safe to be Fire Nation."

"I know. Do you know where a good one is where I'll be fine?"

"What about here?"  
"For reasons I can't tell you, I have to leave."

"Okay," the woman said confused. "I heard there was a Fire Nation noble living on Kangaroo Island."

I took a few steps backwards and listened more.

"A noble?"

"Yeah. She was banished or something."

I ran over to where Kya was. She was paying for her fruit. I grabbed her shoulder, turning her around.

"Great news!" I said excitedly.

"What?" she asked. She handed the lady behind the counter a few copper pieces. She had a basket in her hands. She handed me another basket.

"I know where we're going next!"

"That's great, Oroh," she told me.

We walked to Destiny, Koda, Dente, and Tera who were waiting patietly in the forest. I got on Destiny's back and helped Kya up as well. We flew off to the south in the direction of Kangaroo Island.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We landed on Kangaroo Island about a little less than a week later. We landed at the beach and we were all glad to be off of Destiny. Kya and Tera both took off their robes, revealing just their undergarments and dove into the water. Koda and Dente didn't skip a beat before taking off their robes and jumping in as well.

I tied up Destiny and fed her before taking off my robes to get in the water as well. Kya and Tera were now lying in the sand chatting about girl stuff. Koda was riding a shard of ice across a wave he made himself. Dente was cheering Koda on.

I was about to jump into the water when a net was thrown over my head. Without any panic, I burnt a hole through it and stepped out.

"You're not supposed to be able to escape that," a young boy's voice hissed from the bushes. Koda stopped what he was doing and was right by my side with Dente. Kya and Tera looked up from what they were doing too.

"Excuse me?" I asked politely.

"Nobody escapes our nets," the boy's voice continued, "we thought it was impossible."

"Give it a rest, Jeong," a girl's voice scolded, "let's go apologize and introduce ourselves."

"Fine," the boy, Jeong, grunted as he stepped out from behind the bushc

"I'm very sorry for my little brother's actions," the girl said, staring at Koda. I looked at Koda next to me. He seemed to not be talking or thinking or moving. I elbowed him in the ribcage subtly and he winced in pain.

"It's alright," Koda said. He still seemed a bit far off. We would have to discuss this later…

"My name's Bindi," the girl, Bindi, told us, her gaze still fixed on Koda. She approached us and held her hand out to Koda. They shook hands and she blinked and turned to me. She shook my hand as well. Then she shook Dente's hand and waved to Tera and Kya.

"Pleasure to meet you," Koda informed her. He had a huge grin on his face and he was blushing slightly. I put my hand on his far shoulder and sent a quick wave of heat through his body. He jumped and looked at me. I knew I'd pay for that later.

"Why don't you guys come over to my house for dinner?" Bindi asked us, "You look like you're in need of a good cooked meal."

"Yes, thank you," Koda answered.

"Have you been travelling?"

"Yes," I answered before Koda could, "we're on a special journey."

She looked at me suspiciously. She asked, "What brings you to our small island?"

"Rumors that would lead us to our goal."

"I'd love to help you find whatever it is you're looking for," she glanced at Koda, then back at me, "but first, how about you all wash up. We have two bath houses in town. You guys can take turns."

"Thank you, Bindi," I bowed to her. She and Jeong led us to their house. When we arrived, we were greeted by their mother and older brother. I soon found out that the brother's name was Hirou.

Hirou didn't talk much. He was a year or two older than me. He looked just like his younger brother. The only difference was his hair. His hair was slightly darker and much longer. After we were all bathed, he showed us an empty house that we could stay in as long as we were going to be on the island.

We went to dinner a few minutes after we put our stuff down at the house. We sat down around the large dinner table. I sat next to Koda and Kya. The food tasted great, especially compared to the stale bread that we had been eating.

After dinner, we went back to the house. There were only three beds available, so Kya and Tera shared one and Koda, Dente, and I pushed the remaining two together. We decided to go to sleep early. It would be a long search for Ursa tomorrow.

As Koda was lying next to me in the bed, I started laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked me.

"I'm just thinking about how you acted with Bindi today," I responded. I looked over at the other bed where Kya and Tera were sleeping. They looked like they were sleeping. I whispered to Koda, "And you teased _me_ about how I acted with Kya."

"I was _that_ obvious?" he asked me.

"Yes."

"Ugh," Koda grunted as he fell down beside me.

I chuckled a bit. I turned onto my side, looking away from him. I whispered, "Goodnight."

And we all fell asleep.

When I woke up in the morning, I was the only one up. I went into the other room to get into my robes. When I came back in, I gently woke up the others. We needed to search the island for my grandmother today.

I woke Tera and Kya first. Waking Tera resulted in a kick in the stomach. She could be so defensive sometimes. I winced, held my stomach, and walked over to the guys. I woke Koda and Kya helped me wake Dente.

We all walked over to Bindi's house for some breakfast. Her family was giving us the kindest hospitality. We ate some eggs and then left to go start searching.

We split up. I went with Kya and Tera; Koda and Dente went together. Koda, Bindi, and Dente went to search for caves that she could be hiding in (one of Dente's specialties). Kya, Tera, and I went around town asking people if they had heard anything about Ursa.

"Excuse me, sir," Kya walked up to a man, "have you heard anything about a Firenation woman on the island?"

The man nodded. He told us, "There was a Firenation woman living on top of that mountain." He pointed to the steep mountain in the distance.

"Thank you," Kya said, bowing.

"To the top of the mountain," Tera grunted sarcastically.

We began walking towards the mountain. When we got to the base, I looked up at the high peak. It would be a long climb. If only…

"We have to climb that?" My thoughts were inturrupted by Tera's complaints.

"Do you have a better idea?" I asked her.

"I do," Kya chimed in. She opened up her glider.

"How many people can you carry with that?" I asked.

"I don't know. I could take you one at a time."

"That'll have to work," I spoke softly, "Take Tera up first."

Kya nodded and I watched them try to figure out how to get them both on the glider. It was quite humorous, actually.

After much hilarious effort, they took off to the top of the mountain. Almost four minutes later, I saw Kya taking off towards the ground. She landed gracefully a few feet away from me.

"This is going to be harder," she said softly.

She was right. I was at least two feet taller than Tera, weighed at least seventy-five pounds more, and I was altogether larger. It took us a good fifteen minutes to figure something out. She was closest to the ground and I was sandwiched in between her and the glider. She held tightly to the glider and I held on to her. The close contact made me blush; luckily, she couldn't see my face.

Taking off was another story. We both bent our knees and jumped, but we couldn't get off the ground. We even tried a running start, which was incredibly hard.

Out of breath and ideas, we sat down underneath a tree.

"I guess I shouldn't have eaten those biscuits at breakfast," Kya whispered between breaths. We laughed softly.

The wind was blowing, gently lifting Kya's hair off her shoulders. The sun was just rising, and the light was hitting her perfectly. She looked so beautiful. Her gray eyes were closing gently and she rested. She placed her head on my shoulder. I wanted so badly to wrap my arm around her and kiss the soft skin on her forehead.

I remembered why we were here. I also remembered that Tera was probably at the top of the mountain bored to death right now.

"Kya?" I whispered.

"Yeah," she responded slowly.

"We left Tera on top of the mountain alone."

Her head popped off my shoulder and she laughed quietly. I stood up.

"I guess we should climb this mountain," I suggested. I held out my hand.

"I guess so." She took my hand and stood up. I found the path up the hillside.

It took us about an hour to climb the mountain. We only stopped twice to catch our breath. And one time I tripped, sliding a few feet down the mountainside.

When we reached the top, Tera was very angry. She stood up when she heard us laughing our way up the mountain.

"What took you guys so long?" she yelled.

"We figured out that the glider can't hold both of us," Kya chuckled.

Tera rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Let's look for your grandmother."

I looked around. There was a small village up here. I saw two boys playing burnball a few feet away from me. It looked like fun, but I knew I couldn't play. For two reasons:I'd kick their butts in a second, but more importantly I had a mission to complete.

I then realized that they were playing burnball. Which means that they were both firebenders. And I was assuming that they had a mother who could be the Fire Nation woman that the merchant was talking about.

Regardless, we kept walking around. There were five or six different houses and a small market. We walked over to the market. There was a lady working there, but she looked nothing like my father.

"Ursa?" I asked.

"We don't sell that," she grunted back.

"Thanks," I smiled and turned to walk back over to Kya and Tera.

I shook my head when I looked at them. The trip up here had been a waste of time. We started back down the mountain. When we were at the bottom, we saw Dente, Koda, and Bindi.

"Any luck?" I asked.

"No," Koda said, "you?"

"Nope. We should leave the island in the morning," I told them.

"Can't we stay for the rest of the week?" Koda asked. He had his arm around Bindi. I knew exactly why he wanted to stay.

I sighed. I finally said, "We'll decide tonight."

The six of us walked back to Bindi's house to pack some lunch for a trip to the beach. We worked as a team to make lunch incredibly fast and then walked over to the beach. Bindi and Kya were laying in the sun, enjoying the nice weather while the others and I went in the water.

From a rock near the shore, I dove underneath the cold water. We used to have diving contests all the time when we were younger. The only difference was the water temperature. Here, the water was perfect. In the North or South Poles, the water was near freezing. I swam at the sea floor and looked around. I loved the fish and shells. I noticed a really pretty shell. I grabbed it and swam back to the surface.

I walked over to Koda and subtly handed it to him. He knew what I meant with it.

He nodded at me and took it from me. I got out of the water. My hair and shorts were drenched. I went over to where my lunch was. As I was grabbing my meal I felt a huge breeze and got a chill up my back. I felt my hair was completely dry and I was very cold. I turned around and saw Kya and Bindi giggling. I put down my lunch and went over to where they were sitting. I pointed to my hair and then pointed to Kya. They giggled again and I rolled my eyes.

While her eyes were closed and she was laughing, I picked Kya up and walked quickly towards the ocean.

"Oroh! Let go of me!" she yelled, kicking, squirming, and laughing between words.

"Is that what you want?" I asked, stopping in the chest-deep water.

"No!" She started squirming more and holding me tighter.

"Fine. I won't," I told her. She looked up at me and I smiled down at her. Still holding her tightly, I let myself sink underwater.


	8. Chapter 8

**VIII**

**Dinner that night was interesting**. Bindi's mother made a very delicious island soup. Of course, she asked me to help heat it up when Jeong decided to build a squirrelbird house out of the firewood. Hirou was eating at a friend's house and Jeong was spending the evening with his grandparents. Bindi's mother, who asked us to call her Koumi, was going to sleep early after a hard day in the gardens.

Which left just my small gang and Bindi. We sat around the large table chattering in small conversations. Koda was telling Bindi all about his waterbending class (and how he'd have to show her some of his moves), Dente and Tera were arguing over something, and Kya wasn't talking to me.

"Then, Kya went down and Oroh went to go get her to safety. So it was up to Dente, Tera, and I to stop these four big strong men," Koda was bragging.

"No!" Bindi was totally into it. I rolled my eyes and looked over at Tera and Dente's conversation.

"You benders are so full of yourselves," Tera grunted.

"I'm just saying! Bending is better for fighting," Dente defended himself.

"Are you saying that you could beat me in a duel."

"I know I can beat you in a duel!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"No. I don't want to hurt you."

"So you know that I would win?"

I looked away from them too. I finished my bowl of soup quietly and noticed that Kya had left the table. I got up and went outside to find Kya sitting on the rock I had dove into the water from at the beach.

"It's cold out," I whispered as I came near.

"Yeah," she answered, "but I'm used to it."

Silence.

"I'm sorry that I dunked you. It was mean."

"That was no big deal, Oroh," she turned to face me. The moonlight was reflected in her eyes. "I just needed some time to think about some things."

"Like what?"

"My family mostly. I really miss them. I thought I could handle being away, but I can't."

I hugged her tightly.

"You're lucky," I told her.

"How?"

"You have five really good friends that care a lot about you."

"Yeah."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That night, Kya and I sat at the beach for another hour or so before going back to Bindi's house. Koda and Bindi were still talking at the table and Dente and Tera were wrestling in the living room.

"Benders!"

"Non-benders!"

I sat down next to Koda while Kya tried to break up the fight.

"Excuse me for a moment, Bindi. I need to talk to Koda for a minute."

"Go ahead," she smiled at me.

"Koda. Outside please?"

He followed me outside. We sat down on a rock.

"What?" he asked.

"Can we leave tomorrow?"

"I'd prefer not to leave," he told me, "Oroh, I really like her. She's not like anyone I've ever met before. She's funny and smart and a fighter!"

"You have four more days, Koda. Then we really have to go."

"Fine."

We went back in the house. I looked over at Dente and Tera, who were no longer fighting. I said quietly, "I'm going to sleep. I recommend doing the same yourselves."

They all followed me to the houses. I said "goodnight" to the Bindi and went into our house. We left Koda alone with her to say a special good night. I couldn't wait to hear how that turns out.

I got in bed and waited up for another half hour, waiting for Koda to come in. I fell asleep before I saw him enter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When I woke up in the morning, I was the only one in the room besides Koda. I got up and got dressed. I stepped outside and sat out on the deck. I decided to write another scroll to my family.

_"Father, Mother, and Zuni,_

_Everything is going fine. After picking up Kya, we went to go get Koda, Tera, and Dente…" _

I decided not to mention the part about the fight we lost.

_"We are in Kangaroo Island at the moment as the search continues. I'll be home before you know it._

_Love,_

_Prince Oroh"_

I closed the scroll and put it in my pocket. I saw Tera, Bindi, and Kya walk by, chatting merrily. Dente was probably with Jeong. I heard a yawning Koda walking out of the house behind me.

"Good morning, Koda," I said softly, "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"Have a nice night last night?"

"Yes."

"How'd it go?" I asked. He was facing me now. I watched as a smile broadened across his face.

"Very well," he gloated, "she kissed me."

"She did!?"

"Yeah. I finally told her how I felt about her and she felt the same way about me. So she kissed me."

"Awesome, man!" I punched his arm lightly and he blushed a bit. I put my arm around him. "So now what?"

"You tell Kya?"

"No," I told him, pulling my arm back, "I know for a fact that she doesn't feel the same as me. That's out of the question." It was quiet for a minute. I stood up. "Breakfast?"

"Sounds good," Koda whispered.

We walked over to Bindi's house. When we opened the doors, Bindi, Kya, Tera, and Dente were sitting on the couch. The immediately stopped whatever they were doing and turned to face us. I noticed Bindi blushing, and from the corner of my eye I could see Koda blushing too.


	9. Chapter 9

**IX**

**It was time to move on**. Koda kissed Bindi good-bye, which took much longer than I ever wished to see again, and the girls had a group hug. Dente and Jeong had a man-hug and I waved good-bye to everyone.

"You're sure you can't come with us?" Koda asked Bindi for the twenty-ninth time that morning.

"Yes, Koda," she replied, kissing his cheek, "I have to stay here and help my mother with the family."

"Positive?"

"Yes," Bindi had tears forming in her eyes as she kissed Koda again. Disgusted by the gushy love going on over there, I turned away. I put the last of the supplies on Destiny's back and got on. The others were all nicely situated on the saddle. Tera was flipping her knife through her fingers, Dente was sleeping, and Kya was patching a small hole in her glider.

"Koda!" I yelled, "It's time to go. Thank you for everything, Bindi."

Koda hugged Bindi and got onto Destiny's back. As we flew away, he waved to her. I noticed tears in his eyes.

"Koda," I said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"You're not crying, right?"

"You have no idea what the pain feels like."

"I don't."

It was a quiet flight. Dente took a nap while Tera did push-ups and Kya read some scrolls that Katara had given her for her studies. When we stopped that night, things were still quiet.

"Oroh, where are we going?" Kya asked me.

"Kinji Island."

"Okay."

When we woke up in the morning, it was back to flying. Kya had cooked us some eggs that she had bought at the last market. We ate quietly and then got back on Destiny's back.

It was like that for a week. When we finally landed at Kinji Island, we took a day for rest. Kya and Tera found a river to wash their hair in, Koda and Dente went to go find some fire wood, and I sat down to write another letter to my family.

_My family,_

_We are on Kinji Island at the current time. I have a good feeling about this island. We are all doing great. You should see how much Dente has grown since I picked him up a few weeks ago. I can't wait to see how much Zuni grows during my absence. Koda found a girlfriend on the last island. I felt awful about making him leave with her still there, but he chose to come with us. I couldn't imagine leaving a loved one behind to help a friend with a nearly impossible task. It makes me realize how much my friends really care about me. Which is why, this is the last island I will be searching on. I apologize, father, but I can't keep them from their lives forever. Probably, by the time you get this letter, I will be home to read it with you._

_See you soon,_

_Prince Oroh_

I rolled up my scroll as Dente came running up to me. He stumbled over his own clumsy foot and yelled to me.

"It's Koda!" he yelled. "He's fallen into a trap. He can't get out. And it's not regular earth, I can't bend him out of there without crushing him!"

I popped up to my feet and ran alongside Dente. We were careful not to step into another trap. Dente stopped me as I was running to show me a huge hole in the ground. The hole was cut so that any Earthbending move would result in death for sure. The top was more narrow than the bottom. The edges were sharp.

"Koda!" I yelled.

"Oroh? Get me out of here! I don't want to die yet! I'm too young!"

"Calm down." I turned to Dente. "Go get Kya and Tera. They should be in the stream."

"But…they're bathing! I don't want to go there while they're in the nude!"

"Close your eyes! There's something more important going on at the moment!" He could be so immature sometimes.

"You even look at my sister and you're dead!" Koda yelled up from the hole. Great. He chose now to get brotherly.

"Guys. Shut up. Dente, go get Kya and Tera now. Koda, I'll try and think of a way to get you out of there."

Dente ran off and I looked at the area around Koda. Dente was right. If he had tried to earthbend Koda out of there, Koda would have been squished, sliced, or crushed. If it was Dente, he could make a tunnel out of the side and come out somewhere else. If it was Kya, she never would have fallen in. If it was Tera, she could use her sword to climb on the spikes. But it was Koda.

Koda complained for about twenty minutes. I heard Kya, Tera, nad Dente coming out of the bushes behind me.

"Oh my agni, is he okay?" Kya asked me, worried.

"He might have a sore throat by now, but he's fine," I responded agitated.

Tera inched closer to the hole. She looked down at her big brother and started laughing. I figured she wasn't going to be much help.

"Kya, do you have any ideas?" I asked her. I didn't make eye contact with her; I didn't want to blush and embarrass myself.

She nodded. She walked over to the edge of the hole. She yelled down, "Koda! Is there anything down there?"

"I can't see anything!" he yelled. I went into the forest behind me and picked up a branch. I lit it on fire.

"Can you catch?" I asked him as I threw down the torch.

He caught it, I assume, for he responded a half a minute later.

"There's a tunnel in here!" he yelled back up.

"Go in!" Dente yelled.

"Are you joking?" Koda asked. "It's dark and spooky looking."

Before I could stop him, Dente had jumped into the hole.

"Dente! Have you gone crazy?" Kya yelled at him. Tera popped up from where she had been laughing.

"Dente! Way to help!" She shouted sarcastically.

I turned to the two girls.

"I'll go in after them. You two go by Destiny and we'll meet up with you when we figure out how to get out."

I was about to go in when Kya put her hand on my shoulder.

"No," she said softly. Her voice was soft and sweet with a tiny bite behind it.

"Kya, please."

"No. We're coming too."

"We could get stuck down there. I can't let you be stuck with us."

"Oroh," she turned me to face her. She looked me in the eyes. "We started this journey together. We saw what happens if you don't have enough back-up. If this is the end, I want to spend the end with you, and prevent it from being the end."

Her big grey eyes were sparkling with the sunlight. I couldn't say "no" to her. But I also couldn't say "yes". I had to think about Tera, and her well-being.

"Kya, please don't do this to me," I begged her softly.

"I'm just asking that you let us help."

"Hello! Still stuck in a hole!" Koda yelled up from the hole.

"You're not coming and that's final," I told her, biting my lip to keep a straight face and hide any weakness.

"Fine," she said sharply. I turned to jump in carefully. Quieter she whispered, "And I thought you cared about me."

I could hear the sadness in her voice as she said that last part. I turned around and put her face in my hand.

"I do care about you," I whispered, looking into her eyes, "that's the problem."

I turned and jumped into the hole leaving Kya speechless.


	10. Chapter 10

**X**

**"Oroh! I think I found something,**" Dente yelled to me. I enlarged the fire in my hand and saw that he was right. There were inscriptions along all the walls in the tunnel. Koda ran over to see what we were looking at. Dente put his hand out to feel it. I saw his facial expression go blank and his eyes close. He was seeing through the wall.

"What's there?" Koda asked.

"A…civilization…" Dente said. He turned to us and we all stared at him in disbelief.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

KYA

I honestly had no idea what had happened until it had happened. I had totally blanked out for the past few minutes. All I knew was that:

1) Oroh, Dente, and Koda were in a cave.

2) Oroh refused to let us come along.

3) We were on an island.

4) Oroh had the food.

5) Tera and I were stuck with no food and nothing to do.

"I don't know," I answered softly.

"What do you mean 'I don't know'?"

"I just don't!"

It was quiet for a moment.

"Let's just go back to Destiny and then take it from there," I said softly. I listened to Tera complain the entire way to Destiny. I couldn't stop thinking about what Oroh had said to me. Our little conversation replayed over and over again in my mind. What had he meant?

When we arrived at the location of our landing, Tera was still yelling at me. I put down my bag and laid down in the tall grass that surrounded me.

"So now you're just going to lie around," Tera asked. I could tell that she was angry that I had let the guys go into the tunnel without us.

"Yeah," I answered, "do you have a better idea?"

"Not really."

I sighed. I stood up and motioned for Tera to do the same thing. We got on Destiny's back.

"Let's go on a little trip," I suggested. I took Destiny's reigns and we flew off. I had Tera reading the map for me. It was amazing how Oroh managed to do this by himself.

We flew over the island. There were no people whatsoever. We didn't see Oroh, Dente, or Koda anywhere either. I changed the direction we were flying in and we went north.

We flew to a small town that had a large market. I took the remaining of our money and we bought some fruits and vegetables.

"Out of money?" Tera blurted out, "But Oroh is the fire nation prince! How can we be out of money?"

"I guess he didn't plan on us staying this long," I replied. We got back on Destiny's back and went back to the island. It was nighttime when we landed.

Tera set up her tent and sleeping bag. I got on Destiny's back again.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked me.

"I'm just going to see if they've gotten anywhere yet," I responded.

"Okay. Come back soon. You look like you need some sleep."

I nodded to her and flew off.

I scouted the island again. I was getting really worried. I couldn't imagine going back to Fire Lord Zuko and telling him that his son had died. Even worse, I couldn't imagine going back without him.

I shouted out as I flew over the tall trees. I screamed their names as loud as I could. There was no sign of them. I turned around and headed back to Tera.

As I was landing, I saw movement. I got so excited!

"Oroh!" I exclaimed as I jumped off the dragon's back and ran into the man's arms. But when I looked up, it wasn't Oroh.

The last thing I remember was darkness.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When I saw light again, it must have been morning. The blindfold was removed from my eyes and I was blinded by the bright rays of the sun.

"Tera?" I tried to spit out. My throat was killing me for some reason. The next thing I noticed was the fact that I was tied to a tree.

I heard a man talking in a deep voice as my eyes began to refocus.

"What should we do with the invaders?" he asked his friend.

"They don't look too harmful," a woman's voice suggested, "maybe we should take them to the city?"

"I don't think Randan would be very pleased."

"We can't execute them, can we?"

"Why don't we just send them back on their little dragon?"

The men and woman kept arguing about this. I squinted to see Tera tied up to another tree. There was a boy a little older than we were talking to her. He looked tough, but they seemed to be negotiating.

"Hey," a man tapped my shoulder.

I looked at him and looked away; he seemed like he could become _too_ friendly.

"Hey," he repeated.

I continued to ignore him when he stepped closer and took his hand to turn my face to look him in the eyes.

"Yes," I spat.

"Are you Kya?" he whispered.

I'll admit it. He had my attention. I nodded my head.

"One of our other prisoners told me to give this to you. He said his name was…Iron? Oron?"

"Oroh!" I interrupted.

"Yeah, him," the man responded. He held out a scroll to me.

"Umm…I'm kind of tied up. Would you mind untying me?"

"Nice try," he responded, "I'll hold it for you." He held out the scroll for me to read.

"_Kya, if you get this, it means that you've been captured too. I'm writing this to apologize. I never should have left you and Tera alone. And truthfully, we needed you. Even more, I need you. I can assure you, we will not die here. The highest punishment for intruding is slavery; we'll probably stay here for about twenty years before they let us go. I need you and Tera to get out of here and NOT try to save us. I know you don't think you should listen to me, but I beg you. Now is not the right time to be stubborn. Give the soldiers the necklace you're wearing. Tell them that it is worth fifteen gold pieces. When you're free, go to my father and apologize to him for my failure. Then, I want you to go home and not worry about us. We're going to be fine. The only pain that they will cause to me will be the ache of the heart - the pain of missing you. I love you more than tui loves la. Love, Oroh."_

I felt tears in my eyes. How could he expect me to just leave him here like this? The tears began falling from my face.

I thanked the nice man and asked him to send over the guy in charge. The guy came over and looked at me.

"Yes?" he asked.

I looked down at my necklace. "This necklace is worth about fifteen gold pieces. I'll sell it to you for my and my friend's freedom."

"Fifteen gold pieces?"

"Yeah."

"We have a deal. Leave and never come back," he told me.

"Deal," I said through the tears I was holding back.

He pulled the necklace off my neck. And untied me. I stumbled as I ran over to Tera and we ran over to Destiny.

We lifted off and left.

"Kya? Are you insane?" she yelled at me.

I handed her the scroll. She read it.

"You're going to leave him after that?

"I have to. It's what he wants."

"It's what he wants you to think he wants."

I turned and looked at her. She had a mischievous grin on her face. I think we were thinking the same thing.


	11. Chapter 11

**XI**

**"Ready?,**" Tera asked me about a week since we had fled the island. I nodded and put my black hood on. Destiny stayed on the island next to Kangaroo Island as Tera and I got on a little boat made out of a piece of bark that we found. I used airbending to push the boat forward. Tera opened up the map of the island that we had drawn. She whispered directions as I led us towards the island.

It was almost a new moon, leaving little light in the sky. We reached the island before the sun was on the horizon. Tera and I balanced perfectly on my glider and we jumped into the cave. We followed the tunnels that were carefully dug out by Dente.

"Holy Koh," Tera said softly as we reached the end of the tunnel.

There was a light shining through a door-like entrance. I grabbed the dazed Tera's hand and we walked through the door.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was an underground city. Tera and I took off our suspiciously dark robes and tried to blend in. We walked around the city. There were buildings and a pond and a school. There was a small farm in one corner.

I saw a boy about my age walking in the opposite direction. I stopped him.

"Excuse me!" I said just loud enough for him to hear me.

"You're not in my school! You're not even from here! Intr-" he began to yell. I placed my hand over his mouth to prevent him from telling on us.

"Look," I hissed at him, "if you tell on us, my friend here will be forced to remove your head from your neck. Okay? Now, I need some information that you have. I need to know where you keep your prisoners."

I removed my hand from his mouth. He nodded at me. He whispered, "The building with no windows."

"Thank you," I whispered back.

Tera and I walked quickly over to the building without windows. I nodded to her to make sure that she knew the plan. She nodded back.

We entered the building. I rang the little bell on the front desk to get the attention of the man sitting behind it.

"Yes, ma'am?" he asked me.

"Hello. I'm doing a project for school. I have to interview you."

"Sure thing!" He smoothened his hair. Like that made him look any better.

"To start off, what's your name?" I looked back at Tera. She was amazing! She had successfully snuck behind the desk and was rummaging through drawers without making any sound.

"Jing."

"How is that spelled?" I asked, trying to kill some more time.

"J-I-N-G."

"Okay, Jong."

"It's Jing. J - I as in iguana-monkey - N - G."

"Oh! Jing! How old are you?"

"About 37 years old!"

"Okay. Let's see what I have so far: 'Jing, an elderly guard, works harsh hours defending our people.' I think it's pretty good so far!"

"It's great, but its not the truth!"

"Woah, woah, wait. If you're going to give me information, and then tell me that it's not true, I am going to find someone else to interview, Mr. Jong."

"I'm sorry. What is your name by the way?"

_Name. Why didn't I think of this? I bet he has everyone on file in this room. Think, Kya, think! What is a common name?_

"Lee," I responded.

"Lee? You look different. Did you grow your hair out?"

"Yeah. Short hair wasn't really my style."

"It looks very nice."

"Thank you," I said relieved, "Can we get back to the interview? It's due tomorrow."

"Sure thing."

I looked over at Tera. In her hand she had the shiny key. She snuck out through the back window, still undetected.

"Never mind! Thank you Jong!" I yelled as I skipped out of the building.

I met up with Tera between the cave wall and the building like we had planned.

"Great job! Ready for part two?" I whispered.

"Yeah."

I gave her a quick hug and I ran back into the building.

"Jong!" I yelled, "Jong! Help me, Jong! Please!"

"Yes, Lee?" he asked me, startled.

"There's an intruder outside the building! She has this short brown hair and weird blue robes! Get her!"

Jing ran out of the building. About a half a minute later, he was back inside with a "struggling" Tera. He took her into a back cell. About ten minutes later, he came back out.

"Thank you, Lee. You've been a real help today. Now go home! Your parents are probably getting worried!"

"Bye, Mr. Jong!" I ran out again. I went into the dark corner of the cave where Tera and I had decided to meet up when she finished, and I waited.

And I waited…

And I waited…

And I waited…

About two days later, I saw five figures coming towards me. I knew who it was immediately. There was a tall male figure with long hair and a skip to his step. And a boy only a little bit shorter who walked with confidence and courage. Then the short boy that was slouched over and messy-looking. And the short, skinny girl next to him with the sword. And then some other person. My vision went blurry as the adrenaline rushed to my head. I was so excited I think my heart might have stopped.

I stood up and ran into Oroh's arms. With my arms around his neck, he hugged me so tightly. I felt a small tear trickle off his face and on to my head. I looked up into his teary eyes and he leaned down to kiss me. The moment his lips touched mine, my heart skipped a few beats. Despite of our large height difference making it hard for me, I kissed him back. And for that moment, time stopped. Nothing else mattered. It was just me and him standing together. Koda, Dente, Tera, and the other person ceased to exist. All our problems seemed to vanish. His lips were soft.

And after the greatest forever of a lifetime, he pulled away slowly. He put his face to my ear and whispered, "I thought I told you not to come for me?"

When he stood back up, I looked him in the eyes and whispered "as if" before kissing him again. But this time, I pulled away first. I looked him in the eyes and whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too," he whispered back. He kissed my cheek and I hugged him tightly. When I let go, I went over to Koda and gave my cousin a huge hug. And after, I gave Dente a big hug.

Oroh came up from behind me and put his large, warm hand on my shoulder.

He said softly, "I'd like you to meet someone."

I nodded and looked at the lady that he had brought with him. Before he even had to say anything, I knew who it was.

"Kya," he told me, "I'd like you to meet my grandmother."


	12. Chapter 12

**XII**

**That night we left the underground area** and had a campfire on the small, neighboring island that Tera and I had camped out on. It was chilly out and the wind seemed to be nibbling on my toes. I could see my breath as I laughed to the tales that everyone was telling. Koda was telling us about the scary man in the jail cell next to them. Dente shared a tale about when they were stripped for possessions before being locked up, which led to Tera's sudden outburst of laughter. But there was only one story that I wanted to hear.

I turned my head to look at Oroh who was sitting next to me. He had one warm arm wrapped around my shoulders with its fingers intertwined with mine. He was acting surprisingly cool for a guy whose grandma was watching.

"Oroh, I'm dying to know: how'd you find her? And how'd you get captured? And how did you escape?"

Oroh let out a small chuckle. He looked at Dente and Koda. He smiled as he said, "I guess I'll start."

I smiled. He looked back into my eyes; I could see the beautiful fire reflected in his. He took a deep breath and began.

"I guess I should start from when I left you. From the second I jumped into the hole I knew I was making a mistake. It broke my heart to leave you like that -"

Tera made a suggestive cough. It was quiet for a moment and all we could hear was the crackling fire.

Oroh rolled his eyes and corrected himself, "And, of course, to leave Tera. It was a long walk listening to Koda's beautiful singing. And just when we were all losing it, from being too tired and being frustrated that this would never end, Dente found a door.

"Naturally, he opened it, as would anyone else. The first thing I saw when the door opened was light. It was the strangest thing," Oroh chuckled a little bit. I could see the excitement on his face. He was getting so animated by telling me the story. He continued, "So Dente, Koda, and I were walking around the streets of this civilization when we saw this little girl who was probably no older than Zuni. We asked her what this was and she started screaming and crying."

"I swear it was like a pitch that only dolphin-lions can hear," Koda interrupted.

"So these men in these dark robes start chasing us. And so we split up, which was a stupid thing to do. I worried about Dente and Koda the whole time I was running from the officials. When I thought I had lost them, I dove behind a small building and pulled out a blank scroll and wrote you your note." He turned to look at me. He took the hand that was not around my shoulders and put my face in his palm. It warmed up my chilly face. I leaned over to him to kiss him, but he pulled back. With his face sober, he continued his story.

"I put the scroll in my pocket. I could then hear footsteps behind me. Without turning, I knew that it was the guards. Then I was captured," Oroh exhaled deeply.

"As were we," Dente said deeply, pointing to himself and Koda. It was quiet again. I could hear the wind rustling through the trees. Dente spoke up again, "I guess I'll continue. We were blindfolded and taken into this strange cave with only a little bit of light. There we were stripped for belongings and stuff."

"It was then that I gave the guard your scroll. I'm surprised you actually got it," Oroh added.

"After that," Koda started, "we were put in our prison cells. They separated us."

"Koda," Dente interrupted while laughing his head off, "tell Kya and Tera about the guy you were with!"

"He had killed three of the natives. He had these huge tattoos of scary animals and these massive muscles."

"Koda almost wet himself…without waterbending!" Dente and Tera were rolling around laughing on the ground.

"That's not funny," Koda hissed.

Oroh chuckled a bit and continued the story, "Fortunately, I was put with Dente. He was great, too. He comforted me through my pain of losing you and continuously reassured me that you would be okay. I can never repay him for that.

"When Tera arrived, I must tell you that I was shocked. She was thrown into the cell right next to me and Dente. She was a great actress, screaming and yelling and pretending she couldn't fight."

"Wait a second," Dente stopped laughing and said loudly, interrupting Oroh, "Tera, did they strip _you _for belongings?"

Tera didn't answer him. Instead she slapped him across the face. Oroh disregarded it and continued the story.

"She waited a little while before unlocking her cell and letting Dente and me out. Then she let Koda out," Oroh told me.

"How'd you find Ursa?" I asked him quietly.

"Well, when we were sneaking out the back door, we crashed into a woman carrying groceries."

"All I had to do was look at him," Ursa said, "and I knew he was my grandson. Oroh, you look just like your father."

"One thing I never really understood," Dente asked, "what was up with the whole underground city?"

Ursa looked at her grandson. She took a deep breath and began talking.

"I guess I'll begin from when I was banished. It will make more sense that way," she started, "When I was banished, I went to Ba Sing Se. I lived there for about two years, when I found out that the Dai Li was brainwashing people and manipulating their political leaders.

"I took a three-week boat to Kyoshi Island. I had an old friend who lived there. I stayed with her for a few months before I found out that my little boy, my Zuko, had been banished. Being his mother, I knew exactly where he would go. I took the first boat to the Northern Water Tribe. But, I couldn't find him.

"So I hopped on another boat heading towards Kyoshi Island again. However, on our way there, we got shipwrecked. There was a massive storm that completely destroyed out ship and most of the passengers. I washed up on the shores of the island over there, scared and alone. A nice elderly woman came and brought me to her house. When I finally gained enough consciousness to realize what was going on around me, I was in shock. She gave me some new clothes, told me that her name was Kushala. She took me outside and spoke with her friends as if I had been living with her forever. She made it so that I was not arrested for intruding.

"After a little while, there was no difference between myself and the natives. And the years went by. I remained living with Kushala. We had a little group of friends that we would play Pai Sho with every so often. I had a job in the marketplace as a saleswoman. Life was very nice."

"But what's with the underground place?" Tera blurted out.

"Patience," Ursa whispered, "allow me to finish! One day, I was curious, like you children are. I decided to ask Kushala what was going on with the interred city. I remember the conversation so vividly. I was so curious; I had wanted to ask for a while. I walked up to her and I asked her. Her answer was slightly confusing. She told me that when a war was started, a group of Earth Kingdom refugees who couldn't get into Ba Sing Se, decided to start their own city. They dug out the caves and tunnels and began life there. It's been along since the birth of the last air avatar and the original Sozin's Comet."

"My father," I whispered.

"And Oroh's great great grandfather," Ursa told us.

It was quiet again. We all finally understood. After a while, I put out the fire and went over to the beach-like area of the small island. I couldn't believe it. We had found Ursa. Our mission was over. We were going home.

I heard footsteps from behind me. I turned around, expecting to see Oroh, but I didn't.

"The moon sure is lovely tonight," Koda's deep voice echoed off the ocean.

"Yeah," I responded.

"My dad says he dated the moon. I don't believe him."

"Of course he did," I said softly.

"Who knows? Dad has all sorts of stories that probably aren't true. Like the one about how he was stuck in a hole and faced by a saber-tooth-moose-lion; like that ever happened."

"Yeah."

"You alright, Ky? You seem kind of down."

"I'm fine. I'm just thinking about stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"We did it, Koda."

"Yeah. We did."

"Koda," I saw Oroh as I heard his voice from behind Koda's shoulder. "Mind if I take over?"

"Sure," Koda smiled and walked away. Oroh neared closer to me. He placed a thick blanket over my shoulders, warming me up. He sat down next to me.

"What's on your mind?" he asked me.

"You, mostly. And how we have to part soon. We found your grandmother. Our journey is over. You'll be going back to your palace and I'll be returning to my little snow-house in the North Pole."

"Kya," he whispered, "there is nothing that can keep us apart. We'll be together, don't worry."

"How? There are girls in the Fire Nation that would _kill_ to be with you. You're their prince. And you're incredibly sweet, strong, and good looking. The girls where you live are gorgeous and intriguing. Then there's little ol' me: just a plain water-tribe airbender.

"Kya, don't do this. You know that you're not just some boring girl. There is no girl in the Fire Nation - or the world for that matter - that could even compare to you."

I started crying. I had no idea why, but I felt my eyes tearing and falling from my face.

"Kya, please don't cry," he pleaded. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. He started singing softly. "Winter, spring, summer, and fall; four seasons, for love."

I looked up at him. He tried so hard. I knew that he would do as he said. I put my hand over his mouth.

"You have a beautiful singing voice," I told him, and then I kissed him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

OROH

We made one final stop on our journey before going back to the Fire Nation palace. Koda begged and begged and we stopped back at Bindi's island. It was the cutest thing. He stood outside her school building with a bouquet of flowers until Bindi came out the door and ran into his arms crying.

He finally convinced her mother to let her come with us for a little while to "study abroad" at the Southern Water Tribe, allowing her to do the research on penguins that she had always wanted to do.

The flight back to the Fire Nation was long and entertaining. Everyone was sad to have to leave each other soon. Dente and Tera were getting along much better. Kya and I were enjoying every moment we could get "alone". Ursa was excited to be back with family.

It was right after sunset when we landed in the palace's courtyard. I helped my grandmother get off of Destiny's back.

I saw my family run out of the palace. With Kya's hand in mine, I turned to her and whispered, "Here goes nothing."

I looked down at Kya, and smiled. We had finished our odyssey. We had found Ursa.

She smiled up at me. My dad looked over at me, then to my grandmother. His smile was bright enough to light up the entire sky.

I had succeeded.

The End


End file.
